Vacuum breaker



. J. P. woL'FF 2155520 VACUUM BREAKER April 25, 1939.

Filed May 2l 1938 l m v ,4 TTORNE V5' Patented pr. 25, 1939 UNITEDSTATES rATl-:NT OFFICE VACUUM BREAKER Joseph P. Wolfi", Detroit, Mich.

Application May 21, 1938, Serial No. 209,240 11 claims. (o1. 137-111)This invention relates to vacuum breakers and particularly to that typeemployed in connection with plumbing fixtures to prevent back siphonageof water of any other liquids from a receptacle into a supply of potablewater, the principal object being the provision of a device of this typethat is simple in construction, eicient in operation and economical toproduce.

Other objects of the invention include the provision of a vacuum breakeradapted to receive a solid stream of water and so constructed andarranged as to divide such stream into a plurality of minor streamsconstantly open to atmospheric air, and then combining such minorstreams for l5 discharge from the vacuum breaker; to provide a lvacuumbreaker of the type above described in which means are provided forcombining the smaller streams and discharging them from the vacuumbreaker in such a manner as to form a hollow tube of. water fordischarge into a receptacle; the provision of a vacuum breaker adaptedto receive a solid stream of water at its inlet end and to divide suchsolid stream of water into a plurality of smaller streams of Waterarranged for a combined ofw in a generally conical formation; theprovision of a vacuum breaker as last described in which the flow of theseparate streams of water in conical formation is such as to effect aswirling of the separate streams and a combining thereof at thedischarge end of the vacuum breaker whereby to effect an ultimatedelivery of the water in a substantially circumferentially continuousbut hollow stream; the provision of a vacuum breaker as above describedin which the separate streams are at all times in open communicationwith the atmosphere; the provision of a Vacuum breaker particularlyresistant to a reversal in the direction of normal flow of watertherethrough; the provision of. a

4o vacuum breaker devoid of movable parts; and the provision of a Vacuumbreaker so constructed and arranged as to render reversal of flowtherethrough upon a reversal of pressure between opposite ends thereofsubstantially impossible under 45, any condition.

The above being among the objects of the present invention the sameconsists in certain novel features of construction and combinations ofparts to be hereinafter described with reference 50 to the accompanyingldrawing, and then claimed,

having the above and other objects in view.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates a suitable embodiment ofthe present invention and in which like numerals refer to likev partsthroughout the several different views,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a water closet illustrating apreferred application of the present invention thereto;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical view taken centrally through the vacuumbreaker illustrated in Fig. 1 and showing a fragment of the controlvalve and water closet bowl at opposite ends thereof;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the vacuum breaker shown in Fig. 2with the drip trough and protecting shield removed therefrom;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig, 2;and, l

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken o-n line 5 5 of Fig. 2.

The danger of back siphonage of contaminated water to a potable watersupply through plumbing fixtures is well recognized by those skilled inthe art and particularly by sanitary engineers. Wherever there is aconnection between a supply of potable water and a relatively open bodyof water in any receptacle such as a vat, water closet bowl, sink, pailor the like, back siphonage or withdrawal of the contaminated water insuch receptacle into the pipe line containing the supply of potablewater may occur at any time that the pressure of water in the supplyline falls below a positive pressure unless a vacuum breaker orequivalent means is providedl in the connection between the supply lineand the receptacle. The failure or reversal of the pressure in the watersupply line may Loccur because of a number of reasons among which arethe breaking of water mains or services, improperly designed orundersized Water supply distributing systems in buildings andparticularly taller buildings, heavy demands in extended dry periodsreducing normal working pressure in city mains, fire pumping apparatusconnected to a re plug, the turning off of the water supply at the footof a pipe riser, and a number of. other occurrences which will bereadily appreciated by those skilled in the art. Back siphonage islikely to occur in a number of plumbing fixtures and especially in waterclosets which do not have to become plugged or clogged, although suchplugging is not an infrequent occurrence, and the danger always exists.Many types of water closet bowls are so constructed as to providesubmerged sipnon jets which accelerate the flushing operation of thetoilet by initiating the flow of the discharge into the waste line. Inother types of plumbing fixtures the discharge end of the valve or othervalve controlled fitting is often submerged as a matter of design as,for instance, in bottom inlet types of bath tubes, and occurs in anyoase where a hose, tube or other conduit is attached to the dischargeend of a faucet or nozzle and the opposite end of the hose or the likeis submerged in a tank, basin, pail or other open body of water.

Such back siphonage may be prevented from occurring by providing meansfor introducing into the discharge end of the supply line adjacent suchplumbing fixture, whenever such reversal of pressure occurs, air insuiiicient quantities to relieve the vacuum and thus relieve the forcewhich causes back siphonage. A number of devices of different designshave heretofore been suggested for the purpose of breaking the vacuum ina supply line for the purpose above described, but as far as I am awarenone of these have proven satisfactory. The bulk of the devicesheretofore suggested have `incorporated in them a movable valve or otherdevice the displacement of which is necessary for the proper functioningof the device. Because of the fact that devices of this type when onceinstalled are seldom inspected in service until actual failure, andthisapplies particularly to residences,v the movable parts of thedevices often become corroded and stuck to such an extent as to renderthem inoperative and, therefore, ineffective for the purpose intended, Y

` To overcome the defects of the hereto-fore suggested constructionsembodying movable parts, the present invention provides a vacuum breakerconstruction in which all movable parts are eliminated, thus providingva construction which requires no servicing whatever and which willremain fully operative throughout its entire life. Vacuum breakersdevoid of moving parts have also been suggested heretofore, but as faras I am aware these vacuum breakers have not proven satisfactory underall conditions of installation.

For instance, in many cases, as in connection with water closets, it isdesirable to place the control valve, which must necessarily be on theupstream side of the vacuum breaker, as close as possible to the bowl,and it has been found that where these vacuum breakersvas previouslysuggested are placed, for instance, six inches or less from the surfaceof the water in the closet bowl, back siphonage may still occur undersome circumstances.

The construction provided by the present invention is such as to permitthe installation of the vacuum breaker within a very short distance ofthe surface of the water in the receptacle into which it is discharged.This advantage is obtained by separating the water flowing into thevacuum breaker into a plurality of separate streams which are constantlyopen to the atmosphere, and converging these streams at the dischargeend of the device for discharge through a restricted opening. Preferablyin thus discharging these separate streams through a restricted openingthe streams lare combined at the discharge opening into a solid orsubstantially solid stream swirling about the axisof thedischargeopening, this having the effect of ultimately forming thedischarged water from the vacuum breaker into a hollow stream fordelivery to the receptacle to be supplied therefrom. Experienoe hasindicated that with this construction, when properly designed, air mayiiow into the vacuum breaker in such quantities as to relieve the vacuumin the supply line under the most adverse conditions with such rapidityand to such an extent, particularly with the aid of the restricteddischarge port or opening restricting reversal of ilow of water throughthe vacuum breaker, that when the vacuum breaker is positioned above thelevel of the water in the receptacle by the distance above stated it isimpossible for any back siphonage to occur.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing which illustrates a suitableembodiment of the present invention, a typical installation of a vacuumbreaker is illustrated in Fig. 1 in which the numeral I indicatesgenerally a closet bowl of any suitable or conventional constructionhaving a water supply line I2 leading thereto controlled by a valve I4,a vacuum breaker indicated generally at I6 being interposed between thevalve I4 and the closet IIJ.

Referring now to Figs. 2 to 5, inclusive, it will be noted that the,vacuum breaker includes a hollow cylindrical inlet end portion I8 and ahollow cylindrical outlet portion 20 which are arranged in axiallyaligned and axially spaced relation and are preferably of the samediameter.

YAt its downstream end the end portion IB is provided with a radiallyoutwardly directed annular flange 22 in turn terminating at its radiallyouter edge in a downwardly directed relatively short cylindrical sleeve24. A disc-like plate member 26 of a diameter equal to the innerdiameter of the sleeve 24 is received within the lower end of the sleeve24 and is fixed at its margins thereto.

The outer edge of the disc 26, as best illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4, isperipherally notched to provide in conjunction with the sleeve 24 aplurality, shown as eight merely by way of illustration, preferablyequally angularly spaced openings 28 therein. A tube 30, preferably butnot necessarily of rectangular sectional configuration as shown, andwhich may be of constant crosssectional configuration throughout itslength, as shown, or may vary in cross-sectional configuration over itslength to obtain any desired longitudinal contour, is fixed and sealedat its upper end to the disc 26 and sleeve 24 about the margins of eachof the openings 28, and each' tube 30 extends downwardly therefrom inangularly inwardly directed relation with respect to the axis of thevacuum breaker. In other words the tubes 30 are positioned as thoughgrouped in equallyangularly spaced relation about the surface of animaginary cone, the apex of which is directed downwardly and the axis ofwhich is coincident with the axes of the members I8 and 20.

In the broader aspects of the invention the tubes 30 may be arrangedwith their center lines arranged in planes radial with respect to theaxes of the members I8 and 2U, but in order to obtain the benefits ofone desirable feature of the present invention the axes of the tubes 30are preferably all skewed with respect to such plane in the samedirection about the axes of the members I8 and 2U. In other words theaxes of the tubes 30 may be considered to be somewhat spirally arrangedwith respect to the axis of the imaginary cone about whose surface theymay be assumed to begrouped. As will be appreciated, this spiralarrangement of the tubes 30 will have the e'ect of vconducting the waterwhich flows through them in a more or less spiral path about the axis ofsuch imaginary cone and thus having the effect of causing a swirling ofsuch water.

The radially outer walls of the tubes 30 merge at the lower ends of thetubes into the large end of a hollow frusto-conical member 32 arrangedCII with its small end in downwardly directed relay tion, with its axiscoincident with the axis of the member 2l] and extending from a pointabove the upper end of the member 20, which it closes, to a pointadjacent the lower end thereof. The lower marginal edges of the member32 are materially spaced radially inwardly of the walls of the member 20and form a discharge port 34 of restricted cross-sectional area for thevacuum breaker.

Although not necessary in the broader aspects of the present inventionbut desirable in order to permit a more ready now of air into the tubes30 when necessary to break a vacuum in the supply line I2, the radiallyinner walls of the tubes 30 are cut-away at their lower ends, asindidated at 36, for a short distance above the upper end of the member32. Likewise while not essential in the broader aspects of the presentinvention that circumferential wall of each tube 30 more advanced in thedirection of downward turning of the spiral arrangement thereof aboutthe axis of the vacuum breaker is preferably extended as at 38 down theinner surface of the frusto-conical member 32 to a point adjacent thedischarge end thereof as best indicated in Fig. 2. This aids inminimizing any tendency of the water flowing through the vacuum breakerfrom piling up at the bottom of the cone 32 and attempting to reverseits direction of ow.

The construction thus far described is that shown in side elevation inFig. 3 in which it will be noted that a relatively large opening 40 isprovided in the vacuum breaker circumferentially thereof between eachadjacent pair of tubes 30 and axially between the disc 2B and the upperend of the frusto-conical member 32. It will also be understood that theconstruction thus far de scribed and illustrated in Fig. 3 comprises themain elements, with the preferences noted, going to make up a device inaccordance with the present invention, these features being broadly aninlet such as I8 adapted to receive a solid stream of water, means suchas the disc 26 for diverting the flow of the incoming water away fromthe center thereof, means including openings such as 28 and tubes suchas 3D for dividing the flow of water into a plurality of separatestreams collectively arranged in conical relation and means, shown inthe frusto-conical member 32, arranged to re-combine the separatestreams and to discharge them from the vacuum breaker.

It will be understood from the foregoing that a solid stream of waterflowing into the inlet end of the inlet connection I8 is obstructed inits direct path of flow by the disc member 26 which diverts it to theouter edges thereof and specifically to the various openings 28 throughwhich it flows into the corresponding tubes 30. The water in flowing inindividual streams through the various tubes 38 flows downwardly andinwardly and, as described, preferably in a spiral path of diminishingradius to the interior surfaces of the frusto-conical member 32 wherea'continuous flow in a spiral path is preferably assured by theextensions 38 of at least one side wall of each of the tubes 3D, and isdischarged therefrom through the port 34 formed by the small end of themember 32. It may be stated that it is preferable to so proportion thecross-sectional area of the discharge port 34 that the various streamsof water discharged through the various tubes 3l) will combine at orslightly below the discharge port 34 into a momentarily solid stream.This stream, however, because of its swirling action in passingdownwardly beyond the point of convergence of the various streamsflowing through the tubes 30 will, as will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art, expand radially outwardly in its downward flow intocontact with the inner walls of the inlet connection 42 for the toiletseat l0 and will flow downwardly through the same as a hollowcylindrical stream. The advantage of this feature of the construction isthat such hollow stream will more readily collapse under a reversal ofpressure in the vacuum breaker than would a solid stream, andconsequently would require a greater reversal of force to effect areversal of flow of water through the vacuum breaker. Additionally thedischarge port 34 being relatively restricted and the shape andarrangement of the member 32 providing the discharge port 34 being suchas to provide a maximum obstructing effect upon any tendency towardsreversal of flow through the discharge end of the vacuum breaker, itwill be appreciated that the resistance offered to such reversal of flowthrough the discharge end is material.

It will also be appreciated from the above description that the waterdelivered through the vacuum breaker during normal operation, andconsequently any water within it upon reversal of the supply pressure,is fully open at all times to the atmosphere through the openings 40between the tubes 38, thus insuring all water between the interior ofthe vacuum breaker and the receptacle, where the receptacle is open toatmospheric pressure, being subjected at all times to atmosphericpressure. This feature thus permits the water to seek its level underthe force of gravity and to substantially prevent, under the mostadverse conditions, any tendency toward a reversal of ilow of water fromthe receptacle upwardly through the discharge end of the vacuum breakerupon the creation of a suction or vacuum in the supply line. Even undersuch adverse conditions, in view of the fact that the interior of thevacuum breaker is constantly open to atmospheric air, the combined areasof the various tubes 38 will be suicient to immediately relieve anysuction or vacuum which may occur in the supply line l2 and prevent anyeffects thereof from being transmitted through the discharge end of thevacuum breaker to the contents of the receptacle into which the supplyline is adapted to discharge.

Because of the fact that the water flowing through the vacuum breaker isconstantly open to the atmosphere through the various openings 4l), therush of water in various streams from the tubes 33 and their combiningin the member 32 will often be audible exteriorly of the vacuum breakerunless some means are provided for mufliing the same. Furthermore it hasbeen found that when the vacuum breaker is operating under the mostadverse conditions, as for instance when it is positioned exceptionallyclose to the normal level of water in a receptacle fed therethrough andthe valve controlling a supply of water through the vacuum breaker isoperated in quickly repeated cycles, an occasional drop or small amountof spray may find its way out through the openings 40. To prevent lossof such occasional drop or spray of water and to mufe the sound of therush of water through the vacuum breaker the following mechanism isprovided. An annular upwardly directed trough member t4 is positioned insurrounding relation with respect to the member 20, with its innerbottom edge in approximately flush relationship with respect to theupper edge of the cone 32, and is 'I5 sealed thereto at its innermargin. A downwardly and outwardly directed annular shield 46 is sealedat its upper end to the sleeve member 24 and extends outwardly anddownwardly therefrom, its lower end being of a maximum diameter lessthan the maximum diameter of the trough 44 so that any spray or drops ofwater striking the same will drain downwardly into the trough 44 whereit may drain back into the interior of the member 2i) through one of theopenings 40. A second outwardly and downwardly directed shield member 50is secured at its upper end with respect to the vacuum breaker as bybeing secured to the upper end of the shield 46 as indicated, or in anyother suitable manner, and extends outwardly and downwardly therefrom ingenerally radially outwardly spaced relation with respect to the shield46, its outer end preferably extending downwardly into at least axiallyflush relationship with respect to the upper edge of the trough member44 and into radially outwardly spaced relation with respect thereto soas to shield the interior of the vacuum breaker against direct passageof foreign material thereinto from the outside thereof. The constructionthus far described, including the trough member 44 and shields 45 and 50are sufficient in and of themselves to form a more or less maze-likepassage communicating the air exteriorly of the Vacuum breaker with theair interiorly thereof which will act to muiile the transmission of anyaudible sound between the inside and the outside of the vacuum breaker,This muflling effect may be increased, however, by providing a mass ofloose fibrous sound absorbing material such as 52 in the space betweenthe shields 46 and 50 as indicated.

Formal changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the inventiondescribed without departing from the spirit or substance of the broadinvention, the scope of which is commensurate with the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a vacuum breaker, in combination, an inlet connection adapted toreceive a solid stream of water, means for separating said stream into aplurality of smaller streams, and means for directing said smallerstreams for flow over the surface of an imaginary cone toward the apexthereof.

2. In a Vacuum breaker, in combination, means for receiving a solidstream of water, means for diverting water away from the center of saidstream and dividing it into a plurality of separate streams, means forguiding said separate streams for ow over the surface of an imaginarycone spirally of the axis thereof, and said separate streams being inconstant open communication with the atmosphere exteriorly of saidvacuum breaker.

3. In a vacuum breaker, in combination, an inlet connection adapted toreceive a solid stream of water and an outlet connection, means fordiverting the flow of said solid stream of water from the center thereofand dividing it into a plurality of separate streams arranged circularlyabout said center, and means for diverting said streams downwardly andinwardly towards the center of said outlet connection providing openingsaffording constant open communication between at least a portion of saidstreams and the atmosphere exteriorly of said vacuum breaker.

4. A Vacuum breaker comprising, in combination, an inlet connectionadapted to receive a solid stream of water and an outlet connection,

means for diverting said solid stream of water away from the centerthereof and into a plurality of separate streams of water, a downwardlyconverging frusto-conical member associated with said outlet connection,and means for discharging said separate streams of water into saidfrusto-conical member, the interior of said vacuum breaker being inconstant open communication between said separate streams with theatmosphere.

5. In a vacuum breaker, in combination, an inlet connection adapted toreceive a iiow of water and an outlet connection providing discharge forsaid water, means for separating the flow of water entering said inletconnection into a plurality of separate streams arranged in circularformation, means for directing said separate streams of water downwardlyand inwardly with respect to said vacuum breaker, and means cooperatingwith said outlet connection adapted to re-combine said separate streamsfor discharge from said vacuum breaker.

6. A vacuum breaker comprising, in combination, an inlet conection andan outlet connection, means for separating water flowing into said inletconnection into a plurality of circularly arranged separate streams,means in constant open communication with the atmosphere exteriorly ofsaid vacuum breaker receiving and guiding said separate streamsdownwardly and inwardly with respect to the axis of said Vacuum breaker,and means associated with said outlet connection for receiving andcombining said separate streams for discharge from said outletconnection.

7. A vacuum breaker comprising, in combination, an inlet connection withan outlet connection, means for separating water flowing into said inletconnection into a plurality of separate streams arranged outwardly withrespect to the axis of said vacuum breaker, a downwardly convergingfrusto-conical member arranged centrally of said vacuum breaker indownwardly spaced relation wth respect to the last mentioned means, anda plurality of means providing between them constant open communicationbetween the water interiorly of said vacuum breaker and the atmosphereexteriorly thereof for receiving and guiding said separate streams intothe interior of said frusto-conical member.

8. A vacuum breaker comprising, in combination, an inlet connection andan outlet connection, means for separating water owing into said inletconnection into a plurality of separate streams arranged outwardly withrespect to the axis of said vacuum breaker, a downwardly convergingfrusto-conical member arranged centrally of said vacuum breaker indownwardly spaced relation with respect to the last mentioned means, anda plurality of means providing between them constant open communicationbetween the water interiorly of said vacuum breaker and the atmosphereexteriorly thereof for receiving and guiding said separate streams intothe interior of said frusto-conical member, the last mentioned meansbeing so constructed and arranged as to effect a rotary motion of saidseparate streams about the axis of said vacuum breaker.

9. A vacuum breaker comprising, in combination, an inlet connection andan outlet connection, means for separating water flowing into said inletconnection into a plurality of separate streams arranged outwardly withrespect to the axis of said vacuum breaker, a downwardly convergingfrusta-corneal member arranged central- V ly of said vacuum breaker indownwardly spaced relation with respect to the last mentioned means, anda plurality of means providing between them constant open communicationbetween the water interiorly of said vacuum breaker and the atmosphereexteriorly thereof for receiving and guiding said separate streams intothe interoior of said frusto-conical member, the last mentioned meanscomprising tubes directed spirally of the axis of said vacuum breaker.

10. A vacuum breaker comprising, in combination, an inlet connection andan outlet connection, means for separating water owing into said inletconnection into a plurality of separate streams arranged outwardly withrespect to the axis of said vacuum breaker, a downwardly convergingfrusto-conical member arranged centrally of said vacuum breaker indownwardly spaced relation with respect to the last mentioned means, aplurality of means providing between them constant open communicationbetween the water interiorly of said vacuum breaker and the atmosphereexteriorly thereof for receiving and guiding said separate streams intothe interior of said frusto-conical member, the last mentioned meanscomprising tubes directed spirally of the axis of said vacuum breaker,and a wall portion of at least part of said tube being extendeddownwardly into the interior of said frusto-conical member.

11. A vacuum breaker comprising, in combination, an inlet connection andan outlet connection, means for separating water flowing into said inletconnection into a plurality of separate streams arranged outwardly withrespect to the axis of said vacuum breaker, a downwardly convergingfrusto-conical member arranged centrally of said vacuum breaker indownwardly spaced relation with respect to the last mentioned means, aplurality of means providing between them constant open communicationbetween the water interiorly of said vacuum breaker and the atmosphereexteriorly thereof for receiving and guiding said separate streams intothe interior of said frusto-conical member, the last mentioned meanscomprising tubes directed spirally of the axis of said vacuum breaker,and a radially inner wall portion of each of said tubes being removedaxially above the upper end of said frustoconical member.

JOSEPH P. WOLFF.

